Shorewood identity theft case may be linked to Romanian crime ring

A Romanian-speaking man has been charged with committing identity theft in Shorewood ,and federal agents suspect his crimes are similar to a Romanian criminal enterprise they’ve been investigating since last year, prosecutors said.

At 6:50 p.m. Monday, Alex Almas, 43, of Romeoville was taken to the Will County jail on felony charges of identity theft and unlawful possession of debit cards belonging to three people.

The investigation that led to Almas’ arrest began at 2:12 p.m. Monday, when Shorewood police officers were contacted about Almas’ suspicious behavior at First Federal Savings Bank, 801 W. Jefferson St., Shorewood, according to a court filing from prosecutors.

Officers searched Almas and found $387 in cash, several debit cards and a rental vehicle key, prosecutors said. Officers saw numerous debit cards in plain view inside the rental vehicle, which was given to Almas after he provided a driver’s license that listed Buda, Romania, as the issuing country, prosecutors said.

A police officer from Gurnee who speaks fluent Romanian was called to the scene. The officer also works with a task force with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that is investigating a Romanian criminal enterprise.

Almas allegedly told the Gurnee officer that he was born in Moldova and lived in Ukraine, Hungary and New York before he came “here” about a month and half ago, but he wouldn’t specify where “here” was, prosecutors said.

Federal agents told Shorewood police officers they’ve been investigating the Romanian criminal enterprise since May 2023 and their crimes include the use of ATM skimmers and magnetic strip re-encoding equipment.

“Agents advised this case sounded similar to the ones they had investigated although they had never caught a suspect in the act,” prosecutors said.

Those agents could not find Almas in the Homeland Security database and they suspect Almas did not enter the U.S. “through any legal port,” prosecutors said.

“Agents also suspected [Almas] did not provide his correct name and that if released, he would flee the U.S. immediately,” prosecutors said.

Prosecutors argued that Almas should remain in jail because Almas “may be associated with a malicious force that intends to inflict harm on the citizens of the [U.S.].”

Will County Judge Donald DeWilkins denied Almas release from jail Wednesday because he posed a willful flight from authorities. Almas’ next court date is April 24. He will be provided a Romanian interpreter at that hearing.